Brad Brownell calls out Duke, officials after Clemson's loss

Clemson head coach Brad Brownell was furious after the Tigers came up just short of upsetting the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils on the road.

Clemson ended up losing in narrow, 71-69 fashion despite holding a late-game lead. Hunter Tyson banked in a layup with 3:19 left in the contest, giving Clemson a two-point lead in the game’s waning minutes, but Duke finished on an 8-4 run — four of those points coming courtesy of Paolo Banchero — and managed to pull away in the final minutes.

However, one particular discrepancy in the game stood out to Brownell, who seemed agitated by the result in the postgame press conference: while Duke shot 13 free throws as a team, making 11 of them, Clemson was only sent to the line once via an Alex Hemenway and-one opportunity. The Tigers were awarded just one shooting foul all game against Duke; according to Brownell, that seems to be a bit of a commonality among road games at Cameron Indoor. When asked after the game if he felt surprised by Clemson’s lack of free-throw attempts, he answered with honesty.

“Uh, yes,” Brownell responded. “And it’s happened here (at Duke) before, too.”

Clemson has only won four games in program history at Duke; the Tigers were in search of their fifth in program history on Tuesday, but thanks in part to their inability to get to the line, Duke managed to win by a hair. Clemson is now 4-65 all time in road games against Duke.

PJ Hall led all scorers for Clemson, which fell to 11-9 overall and 3-6 in ACC play after the loss. Hall put up 14 points and 10 rebounds in a losing effort, while Hunter Tyson notched 13 points and Chase Hunter had 12.

For Duke, unsurprisingly, it was freshman star Paolo Banchero that led the charge on offense. Banchero poured in 19 points on 8-of-15 from the field, while pulling down seven rebounds and notching four assists. Close behind Banchero was Wendell Moore Jr., who had 13 points and five rebounds, while playing all 40 minutes of the game. Center Mark Williams was also a big contributor for the Blue Devils, as he finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, good for his fourth double-double of the season.

Clemson’s first matchup with Duke this season was postponed due to COVID-19 complications, and it was rescheduled for Feb. 10. Tuesday’s loss to Duke marked Clemson’s fourth loss in the last five conference games, and the Tigers will look to rebound at home against Florida State on Feb. 2.